


Training Wheels

by Madam_Violet



Series: The Vault Chronicles [16]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-11
Updated: 2018-02-11
Packaged: 2019-03-16 20:47:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13644144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madam_Violet/pseuds/Madam_Violet
Summary: Before taking Missy in the TARDIS for a test mission, The Doctor decides she might need a few strolls outside the Vault. With the help of Bill and Nardole, he decides to take her for a shopping afternoon at the mall.





	Training Wheels

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Devil_You_Know](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Devil_You_Know/gifts).



> Prompt by Hamilham.  
> Thank you again !

"If it's about what I think it is about, it's a big, definitive no !"  
The Doctor had to speed up to follow Bill's pace.  
"Bill, listen to me, please. It's not as bad as you think. You know her, she's really making efforts !"  
Bill turned around and sighed in exasperation.  
"Isn't she supposed to spend one thousand years in her box ?"  
"Yes she is, but it's not like I was releasing her. She's still under my responsibility. Let's just say it's like community service. I promise she will behave. She already helped us and she was unsupervised. She did it on her own, without any obligation."  
"And what if she's just trying to trick you ?"  
"Then I will have to chase all over the universe. It's a risk to take."  
"You're really a fool, you know. And an egoist."  
"I know" the Doctor said with a sheepish smile. "But please, listen to me."  
Bill nodded. If that was the only way to get rid of the Doctor...  
  
Nardole was already in the Doctor's office, ready for a talk. Bill felt a pang of apprehension, not certain about the side he would stand with. She knew he was pretty strict about the Vault, but the Doctor could be persuasive, and he had quite a soft spot for Missy.  
"Ah, Bill ! Did the Doctor brief you about this afternoon ?"  
Great, the Doctor had already convinced him.  
"I didn't yet, I was waiting for the two of us being together, so we can talk efficiently" the Doctor answered.  
"So you took a decision without me. Thanks, mates !"  
She sat on her usual chair anyway and poured herself a tea, bracing herself for what was coming next.  
"I was thinking again about what I asked you earlier. We definitely can't take Missy on a rescue mission yet."  
"Thanks God, you happen to have a functional brain."  
"So Nardole and I decided it would be better for her if we first took her on a smaller trip" the Doctor kept going as if he hadn't been interrupted.  
Bill turned toward Nardole, ready to hear him protest. Instead, he smiled to her to apologise.  
"The Doctor says the truth, Bill. It was my idea."  
"You're both bonkers !"  
"Listen, please. I think the Doctor is right, it's the best moment to give Missy a chance to see the world. She's really committing to her rehabilitation, more than ever. And it's thanks to you, Bill."  
"Me?"  
"Yes, you. When the Doctor started travelling with you she became jealous. First I was scared of what her reaction would be, but it had been very positive. After the Monks affair, she became really proud of herself. I know she suggested something terrible, but in the end emptying your mind was her idea, and she was really happy you lived. She's trying to be like you because she knows the Doctor likes you."  
"Are you telling me Miss Psycho is jealous of me. How reassuring !"  
"She admires you. Well, not exactly, but she sees you as a role model anyway" the Doctor explained.  
"And what do you want me to do, exactly ?" Bill surrounded.  
A broad smile cracked on the Doctor's face. He almost jumped from his chair and began prancing around the room.  
"As I said, it's too early to take Missy off world, and I'm not even talking about dangerous situations. She hasn't left the Vault for decades, she's not ready."  
"She's been in the TARDIS at least three times in a few months !" Bill protested.  
"The TARDIS isn't outdoors. And remember how nervous she was the first time. She looked properly terrified. She will probably need a few tries before feeling comfortable on the outside. That's why Nardole and I have been thinking we could take her to a stroll in town this afternoon. She could eat with the three of us at the cafeteria after your service, then we would go to the mall and have tea and cakes somewhere."  
"Great, we're taking an insane murderer for a stroll to the mall. And what exactly is the use of it ?"  
"I've told you, Missy needs to learn how to function in an open environment before being put in a possibly dangerous situation. It probably seems ridiculous to you, but believe me, to her it's going to be a big deal."  
"All right. And why do you need me for ?"  
"She needs to feel surrounded by supporting people. Just be kind and friendly to her, and why not showing her your favourite spots. You know, a cool shop or trendy cafe."  
"I really hope for you two she's going to behave. I don't want to die for a Starbucks with a so-called friend of yours !"  
  
It was almost one PM when the Doctor and his friends arrived to the cafeteria. Bill shivered at the sight of Missy. If the Time Lord and his cyborg friend could easily merge with humans, well, eccentric ones, but nevertheless humans, Missy was completely out of this world. Seeing her queuing amongst the last students and staff of the day was almost a surrealist scene. And Bill had seen quite a few surrealist things in her life. Still wearing her Mary Poppins outfit, she was cautiously carrying her tray, eyes wandering in her surroundings like a curious feline. When her turn came, she smiled at Bill and watched every move she made with fascination.  
"Join us as soon as you can" the Doctor asked the girl.  
Bill hung her apron immediately, too curious to join her little group of friends at the furthest table in the dining room. Missy was sitting by the window, her eyes darting outside with excitement. The Doctor was facing her and Nardole was next to her, making sure everything was okay.  
"Eat your chips while they're warm" he suggested her kindly but firmly.  
Missy nodded, but only began eating when Bill sat down.  
"So you like my chips" the girl asked pleasantly.  
"Hmm, yes, I like them. The Doctor brings me some once a week, but they're better here."  
After that she kept eating in silence. Bill could see she was nervous, and it made her strangely nervous too. But it wasn't bad nervousness, more like excitement before a long awaited event. The strangest thing, Bill noticed, wasn't quite the outlandishness of the Time Lady in such a familiar environment, but rather the astounded look in her eyes. She seemed permanently surprised to be there, as if the whole scenery was alien to her. Actually it was, and it reversed the situation.  
"Where do you want to go after lunch ?" Bill heard herself asking.  
"Missy, is there somewhere you want to go to ?" the Doctor repeated to an absent-minded Time Lady.  
She chewed her lips a moment, her eyes drifting to the ceiling.  
"We could go and buy those cinnamon rolls I love."  
"Great idea !" encouraged Nardole with a forced enthusiasm.  
Missy smiled and grabbed the Doctor's hand. He caressed her knuckles softly and she shivered with anticipation.  
  
Once in the streets, Nardole and the Doctor became twice as wary and Bill realised how crazy the idea was. However, Missy was probably the most anxious of the little group. The Doctor had briefed Bill about her defiant and sassy attitude when she was scared. But for the moment, she looked like a little lamb going out for the first time. Bill was aware the comparison was particularly weird to describe the murderous Time Lady, but that was the better she could find as she was running ahead, then coming back by herself by the Doctor's side, taking his hand.  
"Aren't you feeling too hot with this outfit ?" Bill asked with concern.  
Missy blinked and looked at the girl's tank top and pair of shorts.  
"I'm a Time Lady, sweetheart, not a sweaty little human !"  
"What she meant is that Time Lords can control the temperature of their own body" the Doctor explained.  
"That's why you're always dressed so off-season" Bill mused.  
Missy was looking around alternatively in complete awe, or frightfully depending on of whatever reason foreign to Bill.  
"Now we have to go in busier streets" the Doctor warned her softly.  
She nodded and stuck closer to the group. The Doctor took her hand and Nardole looked at her with a firm but kind glance. Suddenly Bill realised she had been in solitary confinement for more than seventy years with only those two men as interpersonal contacts. As dreadful as the woman was, this idea still made the girl uneasy. Especially the weird link she seemed to have developed with her captors, a dependency that didn't feel natural for her.  
"Is it far away ?" she asked.  
"No, we're almost there" the Doctor reassured her.  
This simple question caused a pang inside Bill's stomach as she realised the simple fact Missy didn't know the city. She had spent all this time underground, completely cut off the world around her. She probably had chosen the bakery because her only link to the outside world were the treats they gave her. The biscuits she seemed to want so bad were her only tangible link to the vague image of a city she knew nothing about. It was a pretty sad and ugly reality.  
Once they arrived at the bakery, the Doctor pulled a small wallet from his pocket and handed it to Missy.  
"Why don't you go and buy them by yourself, we could wait for you outside."  
Missy scoffed.  
"Just send the egg or the young lady !"  
The Doctor sighed and shook his head.  
"Missy, this is an exercise. You need to show me you can interact in society before I ask you anything important."  
A sparkle of realisation gleamed inside Missy's eyes, and she nodded eagerly. After exchanging a last glance with the Doctor and Nardole, she entered the shop hesitantly.  
"I'm watching over her" the Doctor explained his friends. "I doubt she used a lot of money in her life, at least at this scale."  
"What kind of life did she have before ?" Bill asked curiously.  
She had never thought about it, but now she realised she couldn't figure how Missy would live if she was on her own.  
“I’m not sure” the Doctor answered. “She had a TARDIS at one point but I never saw it, so I can assume she crashed it somewhere. Last time I saw her free she was using a Vortex manipulator, sort of time and space pocket teleportation device. She’s like me, she wanders in space and time, invents identities, lies to survive. If she hadn’t taken a criminal path she would be wonderful. She could be wonderful.”  
“Aww, look at her !” Nardole gushed.  
In the shop Missy was talking with the employee. Judging by their gestures and Missy beaming like a coy little girl, the other woman was probably complimenting her on her outfit. Her whole body language expressed the quirky discomfort the Time Lady always felt with humans. She was putting on a show and in the same time hiding herself behind her mask of harmless lunacy. She hesitantly gave a few coins, money being an abstract concept for her, and the shop woman helped her patiently.  
“She’s doing great” the Doctor commented proudly.  
It was like giving a child the impressive task of fetching the bread and the newspaper on a Sunday morning. But seeing her like this, interacting with ordinary people in an ordinary shop showed her an entirely new facade of the Time Lady. Missy looked harmless enough, with her petite stature and wide, innocent eyes. If she had met her in those condition, with her eccentric outfit, off beat demeanour and childish little voice she would have thought she was a slightly mentally disabled woman, one of those harmless lunatics people generally help and reassure by instinct.  
Missy stepped out the bakery her arms loaded with a paper bag and a smile on her face. Nardole came to her and helped her with the bag.  
“Hey, you bought the whole stock.” the Doctor joked.  
She gave the change back and took a cinnamon roll from the bag.  
“They’re still warm !” she marvelled as she took a bite. “You should help yourself before they get cold!”  
“Aww, thank you, Missy” Nardole beamed.  
“Yeah, thanks.” Bill added.  
Giving Missy a feeling of safety was the most important thing according to the Doctor. She was out of her comfort zone, and she needed a constant reminder of the familiar warmth of the Vault. Despite looking fearsome and reckless, she might get easily disoriented by the unknown, especially after more than a half century of indoor confinement.  
“I think we should get a drink now before we choke with those cinnamon rolls !” Bill suggested.  
“Yeah, good idea !” Nardole said cheerfully.  
Missy nodded, currently unable to talk due to the full cinnamon roll she had managed to stuff in her mouth. Bill would have laughed if it wasn't for the risk of being murdered by an insane Time Lady.  
“I don't know for you, but I really want a bubble tea right now !”  
  
Since Bill was the only one of the group to drink bubble teas, she led them through the mall. The Doctor was grumbling about the weird idea of putting tapioca balls into tea, but both Nardole and Missy seemed thrilled by the idea. Well, Missy seemed thrilled by everything around her. Bill thought she might as well show her the stores around. While she admitted she looked quite good in those Edwardian clothes, she could be so much more attractive in a more modern outfit. Not that she cares, of course, but she was curious anyway.  
“Missy, look at this ! You would look great in this outfit.”  
Missy paused and looked at the said outfit in one of the windows. It was a rather strict suit, but with a sexy twist. The kind of thing a sadistic headmistress would wear. Missy bit her lower lip.  
“Hmm, nice. Not really my style, though. I'm a bit tired of black suits”  
She turned around and squealed at the sighed of a Claire's shop. She rushed inside, indifferent of the schoolgirls and teenagers giggling at her and tried several pairs of cat's ears. Bill thought it was probably not the most flattering choice for a woman with such a sharp face and icy eyes, but again she seemed so happy with the result and she almost looked cute.  
“Common, Missy” the Doctor nudged her, taking the cat shaped squishy she was playing with from her hands.  
  
The bubble tea seemed at Missy's taste, and she complained about the fact she never had one before. The Doctor promised her he would add it on the list of her treats. Bill and Nardole were sitting on a bench of the last floor, at the kid's play area. Missy had discovered the tactile tiles on the floor that were displaying a pond with koi fishes. She jumped gleefully, making ripples in the “water” and scaring the big red fishes while being supervised by the Doctor. By chance, no kid was around.  
“What do you think, Missy ? Do you think you can handle the big wide universe without going all evil and murderous ?”  
“Off course ! Look at me, I'm such a good girl. I'm ready to be you !”  
The Doctor laughed.  
“All we did today was hanging at the mall. But I must admit you're doing it right. I'm proud of you” he added softly, so no one would hear. He didn't want to sound patronising, but Missy needed praising and reminders. Maybe he should buy her something too. He decided to have a chat with Bill about that.  
“Oh” she said “I know the right place for her !”  
And so the walk to a small street in the old historical city. The shop Bill was thinking about was a vintage thrift shop. It was a miracle this particular shop hadn't been plagued by the current vintage trend amongst hipsters and was still affordable. Bill had picked a few of her vintage, nerdy cloth there, and she knew they sometimes had Bohemian, Victorian-ish stuff Missy could enjoy. The dress in display was a white wedding gown with a wide crinoline repurposed with a long woollen cardigan and a stash. Missy tutted with appreciation.  
“You would look pretty in those clothes.”  
She smiled back and went further in the shop. The Doctor felt like he owed an explanation to his friend.  
“Time Lords tend to stick with one style per regeneration. It's not a universal rule, but it's probably like a coping mechanism, a way to re appropriate our body. This, and also the fact clothing is highly codified on Gallifrey. This time around I'm pretty flexible, but some of my previous selves didn't change the colour of their socks. Does it sound weird ?”  
“Well, I'm not going to lie, it's a bit in the weird zone. So it's like those cartoon characters who have rows of the same cloth in their wardrobe ? Or an extreme case of OCD ?”  
“Something like that.”  
They turned around when Missy called.  
“Hey, come over here !”  
They found her twirling around, a heavily decorated hat on her head. The Mary Poppins look was complete this time.  
“I used to have a hat a bit like that, you remember ?”  
“Yes I do” said the Doctor. “Do you want a new one ?”  
Missy giggled softly and pecked a kiss on the Doctor's nose. He took a few steps back, embarrassed by the sudden display of affection.  
“I will take this as a yes.”  
  
Now the little group was having a stroll in the park. Bill was looking for a free bench to sit when Missy disappeared from their view. After a few seconds of panic, they simply found her sprawling in the grass, oblivious of the stares her outfit already provoked in this hot summer day.  
“I think that gives our problem an end” Bill said with a smile.  
The Doctor sat by her sides, an endeared smile playing on his lips. Bill felt a bit embarrassed by the peculiar behaviour of the middle age looking woman, even if she had long ago forgotten her expectations for a remotely adult conduct from her. She was laying on the lawn, next to a “don't step in the grass” sign. Her arms extended and legs spread like a kid trying to make an angel in the snow. Her face was bathed in sunlight, a smile of pure bliss making her look terribly young. The Doctor put a hand on her forehead.  
“You're going to catch a sunstroke, Missy. Move a bit under this tree.”  
“Hmm. No, I want to feel the sun. It's been so long.”  
“You're right” said the Doctor with a smile. “No UV lamp can replace actual sun light.”  
Once again, Bill felt a pang of sadness. Only a person locked up underground for decades could take such an intense pleasure in sunbathing. The Doctor came closer and helped her lift her head to rest on his lap. She hummed of contentment as he stroked her hair softly. His shadow was protecting her bare head from the sun. Bill and Nardole joined them on the soil, despite the protests of the latest concerning a certain sign they were ignoring. The two Time Lords looked like overgrown high school student. The Doctor was only lacking his guitar, Bill though. As if he had listened to her thought, she hoped he hadn't, the Doctor said.  
“Next time I should bring my guitar and play you a little tune. You like my unplugged riffs, don't you ?”  
Missy hummed absent-mindedly.  
“Is she sleeping ?” Bill asked Nardole discreetly.  
“She's probably having a little nap. It was quite a long day for her, after all.”  
The Doctor kept stroking her hair, revelling in her blissful expression. She was incredibly cute at her moments.  
“I think we should take pizzas and dine at home” Nardole suggested. “What do you think, Missy ? Can we invite ourselves downstairs with you tonight ?”  
Missy nodded weakly and tonight schedule was confirmed. Maybe the Doctor didn't have such a bad idea after all, Missy really needed a few more days out before being ready for the big bad universe. Even if the latest still felt like a terrible idea.


End file.
